Stories of A Blasted World
by KV1789
Summary: In a world seemingly devastated by nuclear warfare, follow several interconnecting stories about several of its inhabitants as they all try to find their place and survive in this blasted world...
1. Prologue: From the Dreams of the Past

_*Beep*_

"..."

 _*Beep*_

"...?"

 _"Hibernati-ti-tion sequence ended. Beginning reawakening s-s-sequence..."_

The sound of a hiss echoed through the room as the coffin-like hibernation pod opened, venting gases throughout. Inside was a man, no younger than his 20s. He had short, brown hair, and was dressed in a patient's gown with no footwear.

He struggled to push himself up, eventually sitting up straight. The pod's cover was slid back allowing it. The man looked about the room. It appeared old, slightly dirty, and used. The walls, which seemed to have once looked metallic and shiny, now had been covered by a significant amount of rust and dirt. The floor, which also appeared to have looked similarly metallic, but this time in blue, were covered in the same. The ceiling shared the state of the previous two.

 _"Oooohhh...where...am I?"_

The thought crossed his mind as he moved his body to get off the pod. He analyzed it. The interior was spotless, the "bed" portion and inside of the cover. The exterior was dirty and slightly rusted, the screen of the monitor slightly cracked, but still usable.

He felt the dirt on his feet. _"Ugh. This is gross..."_ he thought as he accustomed himself to the feeling. The monitor displayed incomprehensible amounts of information as he tried to check for his name. After fumbling through the options presented (Luckily it was in...English? _"Was that name of the...language?",_ he thought.) it displayed what he assumed was his name:

[RIVEN KIROUNIAM]

[OCCUPATION DA* [(* ,]

[&,IT DATE: APRIL #!,:;) 65]

[NATIONA`/,'*&98-]

"Riven..." he read it softly. It sounded familiar, but at the same time, strange. He couldn't remember much of anything before waking up in the pod. None of that mattered now. What mattered was finding some shoes and learning about where the hell he was. He looked around and saw several other similar pods, but they were all either broken or damaged and in much worse shape than his. There was a door. I tseemed like the kind of automatic sliding door you'd see in a sci-fi movie. However, it was stuck half-open, big enough for a man to fit through.

And of course, there was a man who needed to fit through.

Riven looked for anything useful about. The room only contained the previously mentioned, so he decided to move on. He squeezed himself through the gap into the hallway outside. Like the room, it was also dirty and desolate, but it looked like something had burned through it. The walls, floor and ceiling all looked slightly darkened, but they still kept some tint of blue as it was illuminated faintly by a few emergency lights that still somehow functioned. The corridor to the left was blocked by a heap of junk and some rubble. The junk looked as if it was put there as a barricade, well before the rubble was added from the collapsed roof.

Riven took the passage to the right, passing some doors that were jammed, indicated by the broken monitors displaying a red light. He eventually came across an open room. He stepped inside to find that it was a medical room, judging from the faded red cross on the wall.

 _"Maybe there's something useful here..."_ he thought as he started searching the room.

The medical beds which were once a pristine white had now been covered with dirt and grime. Riven rummaged through some lockers, finding a medical bag he could use as a sling bag and some old faded-brown loafers.

"Ah, finally..." he said as he sat on one of the beds to fit the shoes. They were slightly big, but of course, shoes are shoes.

Riven started to walk out when his foot nudged something. He looked down to see an old pair of black glasses. He picked it up to examine it. The lenses were cracked and on one of the arms was an outline of a logo that resembled a sidewards olive wreath and what looked like a crescent.


	2. Riven

_A/N: Play this for atmosphere: watch?v=wAmpEsS4sh4 (Search this in Google)  
_

* * *

 _"Hmm...I wonder who owned these..."_ Riven thought as he examined the pair, turning it around.

 _"I guess they're gone now, judging from the state of things in wherever this place is. They look kinda familiar though..."_

While walking out of the room, he turned the glasses so their cracked lenses were facing him. It was then a memory he previously did not have suddenly manifested. He remembered seeing a girl he did not know wearing these. It was hazy, but what was evident was that he was in a crowded hallway that looked similar to the one he previously traversed. It was wider and clean. The faces of the people- no, the people themselves were blurry as well. Looking like silhouettes despite the lighted state of the hallway.

 _"What the-?"_ Riven asked himself. Why was he seeing this? Who was that girl? Was she somehow connected to this?

She looked like a schoolgirl judging by her outfit. She looked normal until he glanced at her short hair. It was...some shade of white? Albinism perhaps? He had so many questions...

Her mouth moved. Riven could not hear clearly what she was saying, but what he could comprehend was these:

 _"...Good luck, Senpai..."_

Her soft and sweet voice echoed in his head as the hallway slowly disappeared around him, the mysterious girl being the last thing to fade away. Riven was back again in the ruined hallway. He felt a tear go down his check.

 _"Why...am I crying? Did...did I know her? I don't understand..."_

He wiped off the tear with his hand and looked at the glasses once again, pondering what "senpai" meant. Based on his grasp of "English", he was very sure that word was not a part of the language.

 _"No use standing around here...but...whoever you are, miss...thank you."_

Riven put the glasses in the medical bag and continued down the hallway. Why did he do that? He did not know. Perhaps to keep it as a charm or keepsake as he explored the strange place he was in.

* * *

A majority of the doors he found were damaged and jammed. Riven's hopes to find supplies or whatever could be of use were slowly fading as he saw hallway after hallway of doors with red monitors. He wondered about what happened to the occupants of this...chamber? Complex? Bunker? Surely by the state of the area, they were all probably dead. Or maybe they evacuated the place in a hurry, leaving him behind for some reason. Maybe they forgot about him by accident? If so, then what were they running from?

Eventually he came across a rather large hallway. Judging from the derelict benches on the sides, it appeared that this was a main hallway of sorts. It was once again illuminated by old, still-functioning emergency lights. Bright enough so he could see.

The center of the hallway was blocked by a large amount of rubble caused possibly by the collapsed ceiling. Three large rocks which were supposed to have fallen through the hole were blocked from doing so by the pile. Riven assumed that he was going to have to go around it somehow as he sighed in exasperation.

 _"Looks like more walking for me. At least I haven't run into anything dangerous...yet."_

Once again, Riven found that a majority of the doors were damaged, except for the two big ones at his end of the hallway. The monitors were green, signalling their functionality.

Riven walked over to the monitor on the right. The floor, he noticed, seemed to be covered in a layer of ash. Upon pressing the [OPEN] button, the doors creaked open.

The room the door opened to seemed to have some sort of concierge area. The glass separating the visitors and the employees was cracked completely open. The office desks were all charred and some had broken apart. There were knocked down office chairs strewn about the concierge section. The "visitors'" section was just as ashy as the previous hallway, the waiting benches looking somewhat melted.

There were two doors leading to the left and right. Near the left was a faded sign that read: "Offices/Administrative Sector". The other, which was more faded but still legible, read: "Central Control Room/Conference Room/Other Facilities". Riven tried the left door, only to be met by a collapsed hallway.

 _"Ah. Well I guess it's the other one it is then."_

Riven turned around and made his way to the right door. The monitor was green, so he proceeded in. The hallway itself was lined once again with some damaged doors as he walked past each of the glowing red monitors. The ash was getting slightly thicker as he walked to the only working door at the end of the hallway.

Riven opened the door, which creaked as it revealed what appeared to be a large amphitheater-styled room. The seats all had computers in front of them, most of which were totaled or damaged to be of any obvious use. There was also a large, shattered glass window in front of the seats that was close to the ceiling.

 _"Ok. So I'm going to assume that this is the Conference Room...does that mean that window is the Central Control Center? Maybe I can find a map or something so I can get out of whatever this place is."_

He walked towards the seats. The computers and the chairs were all covered in ash. He made his way to the center of half-oval Conference Room. There were two doors again. Riven was relieved to find out they were functional, and discovered that both doors led to another room which was where the stairs to the second floor was located. It was largely empty, so he proceeded to climb up the stairs.

The door was left open. Riven entered the ashy room to find some shards of glass near the window, a large metal slab-like table connected to the left wall, and some desks and unopened lockers. A normally-hinged door was there as well. It seemed that some of the furniture there (The lockers and desks especially) were turned over and quite close to the door. It appeared that someone was trying to push them to block it, but then gave up.

Riven got to work trying to open the lockers. There was a steel bar lying in the thin ash that he used to smash the hinges of the lockers. Inside them was an old trenchcoat, and a black uniform that consisted of a black, long-sleeved polo shirt, black pants, and black boots. There was also a big, faded white messenger bag.

 _"Ugh. At least I can get out of this outfit already,"_ Riven thought as he took the clothes and put it in the bag. He wore the bag opposite his medical pouch (The bag on the left, the pouch on the right).

He looked at the hinged door and decided to search it. The lock was already broken off so Riven pulled back the door. To his surprise and horror, a skeleton fell out.

 _"GAH!"_

He exclaimed as he stepped back and bumped into the metal table. The skeletal remains looked like it had the remnants of some sort of black and gold clothing on it. Riven noticed a light coming from behind him and promptly turned around. The table was actually a hologram projector!

The image it was showing seemed to be a map of the facility, with a red dot signifying the location of the projector. The hologram flickered now and then, but Riven could see that the only other way out would take a different route. Luckily the route would start from the Conference Room.


	3. Out of the Ash, Into the Light

Riven found a less ashy room in the corridor leading to the next area he was heading to. In it, he changed into the clothes he found earlier. The pants were a size too small, and the shirt was a size too big. He managed to fit them on anyway. The boots, despite being old, were his size. As for the trenchcoat, it didn't matter. He was just glad to be out of the patient's gown and loafers and in some more suitable clothing.

He arranged his bags in the same position as before and went out.

The hallway was long. As he closed the distance to the sliding doors at the end, he saw that they were slightly open. He also felt cold on his face and hands. The more he walked closer, he noticed that the ash was now getting mixed with what appeared to be...snow.

Cold drafts blew through the rusted doors as he drew closer. It was when he was a good few meters away that he saw in the ashy snow, bones. Human bones.

Riven reacted in horror. His eyes widened as he recognized several skulls sticking out of the thickening snow. He saw some intact ribcages with tattered uniforms on them. Continuing his pace, he noticed that the doors were kept open by a large piece of metal wedged in between on the floor. The doors were also dented from inside the room towards him.

 _"There's so much snow. I can't be outside already. That map said there was a really large room beyond this..."_

The gap was big enough for him to go through. Riven stepped on the metal and was greeted with a magnificent, yet melancholic sight.

He was presented to a gigantic room. Or rather, what used to be a gigantic room which was now an open-air area. The roof appeared to have been blown out by a large explosion, judging from how some of the ceiling's remains were bent upwards.

The sky was cloudy and white, but it was bright enough to light up the area, which was as big as two football fields. There were strange grooves on the walls, that seemed to glow a slight blue.

The floor was littered with large bent pieces of curved metal. It was coated in a layer of deep snow, although there was some metal sticking out that formed a path to another door. That door was the next exit.

Riven made his way to it. He observed that there were also these broken glass coffin-like structures jutting out the snow, as well as an even larger amphitheater-style seating.

 _"Damn. This place is so big! I hope the next corridor isn't blocked or anything. I don't wanna freeze to death here..."_

The man tried not to fall into the snow as he made large steps. It took him a good 15 minutes to reach the doors.

One of the doors was bent into the corridor so severely by what looked like the impact of one of the curved metal pieces. Fortunately, it was bent so much that there was a gap for Riven to squeeze through.

He took off his bags and pushed them through. He crawled in and put the bags back on as he resumed his search for the exit.

The hallways were back to being dimly lit. The snow slowly gave way to ash, but the atmosphere remained cold and empty. He came across the occasional skeleton, and the locked doors on the sides. Still, he kept pushing forward.

The hallway curved. As he continued on, he saw even more skeletons. They were no longer intact, but rather haphazardly strewn everywhere. Metal pieces were embedded into the ash, which upon closer inspection, were broken firearms. He walked on, seeing bulletholes in the walls and what looked like animal claw scratches.

 _"Oh my. What the hell happened here?"_

Riven finally reached the door, or rather where the doors used to be. They were torn open by either an explosion or...something. There were no blast markings, so it might have been the latter.

He passed through. In front of him were large faded letters that read "G E B1" with an arrow below that pointed to the left.

A significant distance away were two very large sliding doors. They were not closed completely, leaving a gap of around 5 meters which let a massive amount of snow in. A bright outside light shone in.

To the right was a completely sealed version of the previous doors. It appeared that they were welded shut from the outside.

 _"Ah, finally. Now I can leave this place..."_ Riven thought as he walked towards the light. But then-

"Woaaaah!"

 ***THUD***

"*cough* *cough* What the heck?"

Riven spat as he tried to get the taste of ash out of his mouth. He looked at the ground to see a much larger faded version of the logo he saw on the pair of glasses.

A white crescent moon over a black circle, which was surrounded by a crescent-styled olive wreath.

* * *

 _ **BGM**_ _: Vector 2 OST - Welcome to the Lab & Blizzard Storm Sounds|Relaxing Winter Background Sounds|Heavy Wind & Snow by Stardust Vibes - Relaxing Sounds_

* * *

He looked at his feet as he stood up. He tripped on a metal object, which he examined. It turned out to be an old assault rifle. It looked mostly intact and would have looked cutting-edge and sleek if it weren't for how worn and rusty it looked. Near it was an intact strap of unused magazines for the gun.

Beside the two was some sort of gauntlet-vambrace that looked well-preserved for its environment. It had a slightly bulky screen on it, but it looked very sleek nonetheless.

 _"Huh. Just my luck. Least its something useful."_

He dusted off the vambrace, which had a long glove-sleeve. He wore it and tinkered with the screen. There were a few buttons on the side, but it refused to open.

 _"Bah. I'll just leave it on. I have a feeling it'll be useful later on."_

He picked up the gun. Riven turned it around as he went over it. He had to admit, he barely knew how to use it but regardless, he needed to have a way to defend himself in this kind of environment.

The gun was switched to "safe". Beside the fire selector were the words "AR1n-T54". It also had a sling.

Riven slung the gun on his back and wrapped the magazine strap around his waist.

 _"Looks like I'm ready, I hope,"_ he thought as he looked at the exit. The sound of the wind howling in the distance was getting louder.

Riven climbed the snow pile out the doors. He reached the apex and saw a valley of snow. He looked back. The entrance was nearly obscured by the massive amount of snow.

He looked again at the valley. In the distance was a cloud of smoke coming from a small village.

 _"Ah! Some people! Maybe they can tell me what happened and where I am!"_

Riven looked back at the doors. It was very faded, but he could make out the letters "A DEA EAD UART S".

"Goodbye, whatever this place is. Thanks for...well...keeping me alive for all this time, I guess..."

Riven turned around and carefully descended down the valley, leaving behind the large, mysterious facility that would soon be lost to the snow and time.


	4. Smoke in the Distance

It had been a considerable amount of time, but Riven was not any closer yet to the village. The thick snow made it hard for him to move quickly, having to pull his feet out from a meter's worth for each step. Alas, it was either he get there or not: he had long lost sight of the bunker entrance. There was no more turning back.

 _"Brrrrrr! J-J-Just keep moving, Riven! I-It's only a little while...long-g-g-ger!"_ he thought to himself as he persisted. It was do or die already-and he only just woke up mere hours ago! The smoke still seemed so far away.

Another hour's worth of walking passed. Riven was shivering, as his trench coat only mildly mitigated the cold. Each breath he took sent chills inside his lungs. His feet felt extremely cold, and his hands as well.

Minutes passed and Riven could already see the smoke nearing him.

"Good! Good! I'm almost there..."

"WAUUGH!"

Riven did not notice the slope in front as he took a step and started tumbling down towards the settlement. When he finally stopped after a few seconds, he was face-down on the ground, with his bags and weapon strewn around him.

"Ugh. Not again!"

He pushed himself up off the ice. The entirety of the front of his body was freezing, especially his face. While doing so, he looked forward. He was near the settlement! He just needed to keep on going and he would finally reach civilization!

Hopefully a good one!

Riven dusted off the snow on him and proceeded to pick up his bags and rifle...but then he noticed something as he did so.

Did that lump of snow just move?

Riven, not wanting to find the answer to that, quickly continued on to the village. He picked up the pace. Was he seeing things? It only came to him that he felt really famished, but it paled to the coldness on his face and hands. Maybe his hunger was affecting him?

 _"I hope they have some food over there...I could eat anything but snow at this point..."_

The thickness of the snow started to lessen until Riven could feel that he was stepping on ground. Eventually it became snow-covered ground, which made it easier and faster for him to walk.

Lo and behold! The village was close at hand for him. Riven excitedly started to jog towards it, grateful to have finally found some people!

But then he noticed something grim.

There were six houses in total. The closest house was partially wrecked. He could tell from the rubble pile coming out from its side. Moving closer, he could her some distant shouting.

"Monstruo de nieve! Monstruo de nieve!"

He did not understand the strange words being uttered. As such, Riven slowed his approach, walking slowly as he kept a hand on the old rifle slung on his side. He could see some men dressed in winter clothing running from something...

They were running from a large lump of snow!

Well, that was what he could make out in the distance.

The men shouted something again.

"Fuego! Ve al fuego!"

"Estaremos seguros cerca del fuego! Ve! Ve! Ve!"

 _"What the hell? So I wasn't seeing things! How is that snow moving?"_

Riven ran behind the destroyed house as he watched the men. In the middle of the small village the five gathered around a medium-sized bonfire. Looking back at the big lump, it got bigger until it formed into a large, vaguely humanoid shape with glowing blue eyes. The snow monster roared.

 _"Ha? How-"_

 **"ROOOOAAAAAAAARRRR!"**

* * *

 ** _BGM_** _ **:** __Vector 2 OST - UFO_

* * *

"YAAAAAAHHHH!" Riven screamed in surprise as he turned around to see an equally huge snow monster behind him. He rushed out the doorway of the wrecked house, alerting the men to his presence.

"Huh? Quién es ese?" one of them asked aloud as Riven rushed towards them.

"I hope you guys don't mind me joining in!" he said as he stopped in front of the bonfire.

"Está hablando en inglés?"

"No he escuchado eso en mucho tiempo..."

"Cuidado! Está armado!"

Despite the lack of understanding between them, Riven and the men looked around warily. The snow monsters were silent, but they were still around.

Riven observed his surroundings in an attempt to identify where the creatures were. The village was on ground barely covered by snow, as he could see the frozen soil. It wasn't enough for the creatures to materialize, he hoped. All the houses were weak-looking wooden cabins that looked like they were cobbled together from what what was available. The most "sturdy" one had a few metal barrels laying around. Fuel? Water? Riven couldn't tell as they were covered partially in snow.

"Se han ido?" one of the men said to the other.

"No lo sé, amigo. Pero no quiero saberlo!" another replied.

 _"Oh crap crap crap! How the heck do these things exist?"_ Riven thought as he pulled up his rifle and readied it.

"Hey, amigo, mira donde señalas eso!" one of them said to him. At that moment, one of the snow monsters burst out of a house. The snow-covered roof fell on the bonfire.

"MIERDA! Corre! Se acabó el fuego!"

The men ran as the snow monsters lumbered towards them. Riven tried aiming the old rifle and pulled the trigger.

It wouldn't budge!

 _"What?!"_ he thought as the creature brought a fist down near him as he ran. He fiddled with the gun, remembering the knob which was put on "safe". He looked at it and switched it to a notch with one line. Riven stopped running and fired again.

Nothing!

 _"Ugh! Why won't this stupid thing work?!"_ he thought frustratingly as he kept pulling the trigger, only to hear 'clicks.'

Riven pulled off the magazine to find that the magazine was empty.

 _"Oh COME ON!"_

He fumbled for one of the magazines on his belt as he ran away again. He could hear the men screaming as he turned and saw another snow monster materialize and lumber towards one of them.

"Jorge! No!"

"AHHHHHHHH! AYUDAME POR-!"

 ***SQUISH!***

"JORGE!"

Riven saw one of the men get stepped on by one of the monsters. Its "foot" was blood-red.

 _"Oh my God!"_

Riven put a fresh magazine into the gun as he turned to the snow monster chasing him. He peered through the sights and aimed for the "head."

 _"Here goes nothing!"_

"Eat this!"

Riven pulled the trigger. A single bullet was fired at the monster's "head." He pulled three more times, with two shots hitting it at the center and side.

The head was blown off, but it quickly reformed. The monster roared again, this time, more angrier.

 _"AWW CRAP!"_

The other snow monster instead focused its attention on him after the roar. Perhaps they realized he was a greater threat?

"Van por el inglés!"

"Qué hacemos?"

"No lo sé! Si nos adentramos en la nieve, ¡habrá más de ellos!"

Riven tried putting more shots into the first monster's head, but it was no use. It only made it madder.

 _"Shit! I...I don't want to die here! Oh God!"_ he thought.

Suddenly, more gunfire hit the first monster. It turned around to the source and roared.

"Run, kid!" a voice shouted in English. Riven didn't hesitate and ran, but the second monster followed suit.

Riven dashed in between two houses as he saw a man in the distance running towards the village. He turned the corner only to bump into the same man.

"Augh!"

"Hey!"

The both of them were knocked on their asses. Riven now managed to get a good look at the stranger. He was wearing a gray knit cap which was partially covered by the hood of his dirty-looking, blue-gray parka. He had some old cargo pants on and equally old boots. He also had a backpack, a wooden hiking stick strapped on his back, and a belt with a revolver in a holster.

"What gi-" the man said before stopping when he realized who he was talking to. "You! I told you to run!"

"I did!"

"Well not towards here!"

The two monsters turned the corners of the house. The man immediately got up and yanked Riven up.

"Follow me, kid!" he shouted back to Riven, who complied without hesitation. They barely missed getting hit by the second monster's fist. They reached the house with the barrels around it.

The man brandished a knife which he used to stab a hole on top of the nearest barrel. He sniffed it and coughed hard.

"Ack! Okay, this is full of gas..." he muttered as Riven tapped his shoulder.

"I hope you got a plan in mind 'cause these things are getting closer!"

"I think I do, kid! Just do what I say!" the man said to Riven as he put back his knife and pulled out the revolver.

"Let's get them near here so we can blow 'em up! Fire melts ice, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What are you waiting for then? Get their attention!" the man said as he shot at the snow monsters, who roared as they started moving faster towards the two. Riven followed suit with his rifle as they both fired while backing away from the house until they got to a safe distance. The monsters, unaware of the man's plan, continued to close the distance to the house until they were just right beside it.

"NOW! THE BARRELS!"

Riven and the man shot at the barrels before diving to the ground. The house exploded in a large fireball, blowing away the snow monsters.

"WOOOOOHHYEAAAAH!" the man exclaimed after pushing himself off the frozen soil. "Holy shit, that worked!"

Riven lay on his back as he sighed in relief.

 _"Thank God that's over..."_ he thought. The two were unaware of the surviving men from earlier approaching them.

"Oye. Ustedes dos," one of them said. Riven and the man turned their heads to look and immediately got up.

"Oh, you guys speak...what was that called again...ah! 'Panish,' huh?" the man said as he fumbled his pants' pockets for something, pulling out a small, old book.

"How do you say that again..." he muttered. "Ohlah! Bueynos diyas!" he said to them before laughing nervously.

One of the men looked at the burning remains of the house before looking at the two.

"Podrías haber destruido nuestro gas...pero gracias por salvarnos," he said to them.

"What did he say?" Riven whispered to the other English-speaking man.

"He did say 'gracias' so I think he said 'Thank you.'"

The 'Panish'-speaking man turned to his fellow men.

"Así que uhh ...deberíamos irnos a la costa, muchachos. Quieres venir?" he said as he made a 'wanna come with us' motion to Riven and his companion.

"They seem friendly enough. You coming?" Riven's companion asked.

"Well I don't have anything to stay here for," he replied.

The man grinned. "The more the merrier, they say! Oh and thanks for helping me out...errrr what's your name by the way?"

"R-Riven. Riven Kirouniam...I think."

"If you 'think' that's your name then I 'think' my name's Cullen," the man said as he put an arm around Riven's shoulders.

"Now let's get moving, Riven! We'll chat on the way."


	5. Jose

"A bunker? That's like an underground vault for people, right?" Cullen asked as he and Riven walked alongside the men they saved. The group walked on towards the coastline, heading towards one of the shoreside settlements. The "Panish"-speaking men were chatting among themselves, while the two English-speakers did the same.

"Thank God you speak English, although I wasn't expecting to find one here in this wonderland. Are there more of you who got out?"

Riven shook his head.

"No. I think I'm the only one. Or maybe they all got out before I did. I don't know..." he trailed off as he wondered about the other inhabitants. As far as he'd seen, he was the only one in there and judging by the bones, some possibly didn't make it.

"Did'ya know anyone in there?" Cullen asked.

"No...I can't even remember anything before I woke up in there...although I think I knew someone who owned these..." Riven replied as he remembered the pair of glasses he found. He opened the medical bag and pulled them out.

"Huh," Cullen muttered as he looked at them. "May I?"

"Sure," Riven replied as he handed Cullen the glasses. The man examined them, fumbling with the pair as he scrutinized them. He took note of the symbol on one of the arms, but dismissed it as some kind of design.

"So...who owned these?" he asked Riven.

Riven scratched his head as he remembered the memory it triggered. "Well, when I found those while I was trying to make my way out of there, I...I saw a vision? N-No, a memory? I'm not sure how to put it but...I saw girl-"

Cullen raised his eyebrows and looked at Riven as a wide smile appeared on his face. A girl? The topic piqued his attention.

"Hmmm hmmm! That's interesting! A girlfriend or something?"

Riven looked at him, unsure of how to react.

"Ahahaha. Sorry, kid," Cullen said as he saw the confused face. "Please continue."

"Anyway, she called me a 'sen-pie.' What does that mean?"

Cullen handed back the glasses. "Eh, beats me. I've never had a pie of 'sen' before. Maybe it means something in a different language because that's definitely not 'Panish'."

"I suppose," Riven said as he put the glasses back in the pouch.

"What a coincidence that two guys who can't remember the past very well would meet in a place like this. Heh," Cullen muttered. Riven raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"Pardon?"

"I've been traveling place to place for a long time, kid. It feels like a blur, you know," Cullen said to him as they walked.

"Going settlement to settlement, staying for few days or a week or so, the occasional woman or two..."

Cullen chuckled softly as he said the last statement, eliciting a "Huh" from Riven as they both focused on walking on the frozen soil.

"That's how things are for me, chancin' when I can just to make it to the next day. Not a comfortable life, but it sure is a fun one..."

They both fell silent, long after the other men did and continued walking until they could see water not far off. A few more minutes and a significantly bigger settlement with much more houses could be seen on the shore.

"Oye, héroes," one of the men said while motioning Riven and Cullen to come forward. "Ahí está: El puerto," he said as he pointed at the settlement.

"Una vez que lleguemos, dejemos que José hable con estos tipos. Ese tipo no puede hablar español por mierda," one of the men whispered to another.

"Sí. Sí. Estoy de acuerdo."

"Comprobemos si él está allí primero."

"What are they talking about?" Riven asked Cullen, who was trying to leaf through the book to understand.

"Ugh. I knew I shoulda read this before going around here," he muttered. "But we're at a settlement with a boat! Maybe we can finally get outta here!"

 _"That's good. I'm freezing out here!"_ Riven thought to himself, relieved that they had found a way to leave. His trenchcoat wasn't doing much against the cold. He couldn't even feel his feet!

The group continued on, making good time until they reached the shore. A ketch-type sailboat was moored next to an improvised pier. Compared to the previous settlement, which only had the men from earlier, this one was a tad more populated and lively. Most of the people were other men, with only a few women tending some of the houses and the only trading post. All of them were wearing old, makeshift winter gear.

The men led them deeper in, eliciting looks from the people who muttered to each other in their language. Cullen and Riven tried their best to not make eye contact due to the awkwardness of the situation. Despite that, the people continued their duties.

Eventually they reached a shack near the cobbled-together pier. Several men were carrying and pushing crates and barrels to sleds made of wood and metal for transport into the small seaside town. One of the men escorting them tapped the shoulder of another man who was supervising it all.

"Hola Luis. Has visto a Jose?" he asked the "supervisor".

"Por qué?" the "supervisor" replied.

"Tenemos algunos hablantes de inglés aquí."

"Qué? De dónde son?" the "supervisor" responded in clear surprise.

"No lo se. Tal vez uno de esos asentamientos en el otro lado."

The "supervisor" sighed and called out loudly: "JOSE!" which was met with a "SI, LUIS?". The person who replied was a slightly older, yet still young man who was dressed in a used fur coat that looked like it had seen it's fair share of use. He approached them as he was holding two crates, one stacked on the other.

The "supervisor" pulled him aside.

"Estos tipos aquí pueden aparentemente hablar 'Inglés'. Ve a trabajar tu magia," he said to "Jose".

"Qué? Hablas en serio?" Jose replied in a mix of disbelief and amusement as he put the boxes down.

"Solo sigue con eso. Haré que Carlo recoja tu trabajo," the other man said to him as he walked off, leaving Jose with the saved men and the two.

"Buena suerte con ellos, José! Hahahaha!" one of them said to him as they slapped him on the back.

"Gracias por la ayuda otra vez, por cierto! No olvidaremos esto!" another said to Riven and Cullen as they left for somewhere else in the town.

"That...was something, I guess," Cullen said to Riven as they watched the men leave. Jose, on the other hand, was more than surprised to hear him speak.

"English! Oh Dios mio you two can speak English?!" he exclaimed as he gawked at them.

Riven and Cullen both stared at him in disbelief in return.

"YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH?!"

* * *

Cullen and Riven were being escorted by Jose to a small tavern not far from the pier. Along the way, Jose eagerly spoke as he asked away about themselves.

"Dios mio! I can't believe it! People who can speak English well! You won't believe how long I've waited to meet English-speakers!" he said in near-perfect English (Albeit, with a slight accent).

"Well you seem very eager to," Cullen said to him. "But why is that anyway?"

"I've always known English. Don't know how I learned it, but I've known the language for a long time. Can't say the same for most of the people around these parts. Most of them barely know the language."

"So everybody here speaks that other language?" Riven asked him.

"Yes, Señor. We call it, Espana," Jose replied as they passed through an alley.

"'Espana?' I have a book here that says it's called 'Panish,'" Cullen said.

"Really now? I'd like to take a look at it if I can - oh Lord I almost forgot! I haven't properly introduced myself! My name is Jose Martinez. And it is a pleasure to meet you two!"

Jose put his arms around both their shoulders as they walked.

"Errr...well, I'm Cullen aaaand this guy here is Riven."

Riven just meekly said "Hello." They arrived at the tavern shortly after.


	6. Two Sisters

Somewhere, in this blasted world, in a large, dimly-lit room in a building-

"Haaah!"

*THWACK!*

An impact sounded as a wooden practice sword collided strongly on the side of a practice dummy. The user followed-up with several more strong strikes to its left and to its head.

"Hiyaa!"

*THWACK!*

The dummy slightly slid aside from the force as the user readied for another hit.

"Ngghaaa!"

*THWACK!*

*THUD!*

The user delivered a strong kick to the dummy's torso, throwing a fair distance before landing it on its back. They quickly stood above the dummy and proceeded to perform a stab to the dummy's neck, breaking the practice stick.

"*sigh* Shite..." the person mumbled under their breath as they bent down to pick up the other half on the floor, unaware that they were not alone.

"That's the sixth stick this week, Morgan," another person said from behind.

"Well hello to you too, Ann," Morgan replied, scowling as she turned her head to the door. "Didn't you tell me that people should knock before coming in?"

A girl, roughly around her late teens, dressed in a minimalist light-blue blouse and a gray, calf-length skirt, was leaning on the room's door's frame. She rolled her eyes and smirked as she walked towards the other girl in a dignified manner and looked down at the dummy. She examined it as she put a hand on her chin.

"I can see that you're improving with your handling, but your style is...very unrefined," she said to Morgan as the aforementioned person stood up and stretched her back. "You use a two-hander with only one hand most of the time. Swords like those are heavy, sister. Two hands must always be used to ensure proper grip and strength, lest you want to accidentally drop your weapon and give the enemy the upper hand. Though I must admit, you're certainly improving with your pragmatism, Morgan."

"Whatever, mum. Style matters none if you have strength to make up for it!"

Morgan propped up the dummy against the wall before going over to a table and taking a towel to wipe herself. She placed the half of the stick she was holding on the table and removed her ponytail, letting her messy blonde locks fall to her shoulders before turning back to Ann.

"Just an observation, Morgan. In all due honesty, I believe we should all have our own preferences when it comes to certain things," Ann said as she crossed her hands in front of her. Morgan suddenly took off the gray, sweat-soaked sports bra she was wearing and fumbled in the duffel bag on the table.

"Morgan!" Ann exclaimed as Morgan continued looking for something in the bag as she rolled her eyes.

"We're both girls, Ann."

"That's not the point! The door is open! Someone...some _GUY_...might just walk in, you know?!"

" _Whatever_ , mum," she exasperatedly said as she pulled out a baggy T-shirt and slipped it on before putting the soiled article of clothing in a plastic bag. "There's no one else here but the two of us."

"Don't you ever care about decency, sister?" Ann asked as she frowned at her sister, who simply ignored her.

Morgan slung the bag over her shoulder and walked to the door with Ann in tow. Ann closed the doors before they walked down the vaguely-lit hallway and out of the building to the sidewalk.

"What time is it, Ann?" she asked. Ann looked again at her watch, a gift from their nanny from days past.

"Five-thirty four," Ann said. "Plenty of time to head back to the dorm-"

"Awww! I wanted to eat out!"

"The curfew for we minors is at six, Morgan..."

Morgan sighed.

"Don't we already get served dinner later?" Ann said to her as they walked down the street.

"But the servings are so bloody small! We still have some allowance, right? If we're fast enough, maybe we can get some snack boxes from-"

"Morgan," Ann said loudly. "Fifteen minutes isn't enough. You remember what the dorm manager said, right? Closed doors at six."

Morgan grumbled upon hearing it. "Stupid fockin' curfew..."

"Did you say something?"

"No. You must be hearing things."

Ann could discern the contempt in her sister's tone and sighed. Morgan was a hard-headed young woman, but knowing her, it was both a positive and negative trait for hers for when stuck in activities that seemed impossible, Morgan would always be the one prodding everyone to keep trying everything. But if she didn't get what she wanted, everyone else would all get the receiving end of her tantrum.

Alas, family is forever, after all.

They reached a park. The streets were sparsely populated, with many stores closing down except for the few authorized establishments and the guard posts, adults going about their business and guards of both gender dressed in paramilitary gear marked with a simplified golden chalice symbol on their chests were present, patrolling the area. The duo walked close to one of them, who was holding a baton and guarding a street, closed-off due to unfinished clearing of a collapsed building from ancient times. They continued walking down the street, passing a levitator crate-carrying device which sped past them in a moderate speed.

The two reached their dormitory just as the watch struck at exactly six. They heard the loud chime from the large clock tower near the river of the city, which signaled the start of the curfew for minors.

Morgan and Ann went straight up to their room on the second floor after having their biometrics scanned. The dorm was fairly noisy, with a lot of their fellow students talking to each other. About today, assignments, school, tomorrow, their plans for the weekend and a multitude of others. Morgan dropped her bag on the floor as she kicked her shoes of and collapsed on the bed, while Ann sat down on a chair and opened the holoprojector on the table beside it. Their room was medium-sized, with ample space for the two to have their own beds, one on each side of the room. Morgan's was next to one of the two windows, with a good view of the cityscape. At the foot of each was an integrated dresser for their clothes and for their school supplies. They also had one large study table on Ann's side of the room. Morgan's half was littered with papers and books, while Ann's was fixed neatly. The aforementioned holoprojector was in between, bordering them together with the table light. The table's state also applied to the room itself. Morgan's side was messy, with her drawer being improperly closed with belongings and clothes hanging out. Ann's was spotless, everything being arranged properly.

"Studying again, Ann?" Morgan uninterestedly asked.

"Well, of course," the other girl replied as she looked over and opened several files. "You never know if there's gonna be a surprise test..."

"Hmph. Can you be any more boring? No wonder you don't have many friends..." Morgan mumbled as she put her hands behind her head as she reclined.

"I don't see you hanging out with anyone that much either, you know," Ann retorted. Morgan was not very womanly most, if not all the time. Her sister was a tad more masculine than the usual.

Ann rolled her eyes and started reading through one of the digital books. She felt her and heard her stomach grumble.

 _"Shite,"_ she thought as she put a hand on her abdomen. _"Maybe fifteen minutes was enough time to nab at least five of those snack boxes..."_

Ann looked at the projected clock. It was almost ten past six. Dinner was at six-thirty.

 _"Hmmm. We should probably get downstairs to get ourselves a table,"_ Ann thought as she turned around to ask her sister.

"Um, Morgan? You want to-"

Ann was greeted with the sight of her sister out cold. Morgan was snoring loudly with her mouth open. Her hands were still behind her head. Her hair was messy, as was the bedsheets. One of her legs was hanging off the side of the bed.

Ann stood up and walked over with the intent to wake her up, knowing full well that Morgan would most likely explode at her for ruining her sleep. She observed her sister's get-up. A baggy white shirt (With no undergarments underneath. How improper!)and the school-provided sports shorts. This was Morgan's attire almost always similar to this whenever she wasn't in school. Ann could be considered overdressed in comparison.

 _"She's only barely feminine when she's asleep. Oh, Morgan..."_ Ann thought as she shook her head and smiled. _"I wonder how things would have been if you weren't like this. Either way, you're still my sister, no matter how irritating you are..."_

At that moment, Morgan slowly opened her eyes.

"Ann?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow. "The hell are you doing? You do know that staring at me with my eyes closed doesn't count in whatever staring contest you're trying to do."

Ann snapped out of her trance-like state.

"Oh, uhhh, sorry, sister. I was just thinking about things."

"Ugh, whatever," Morgan mumbled as she turned to her side, facing the window.

"Do you want to go downstairs for supper now? Best to get seats while we still can," Ann asked before Morgan could resume her sleep.

Morgan turned back to her.

"Ah, fuck. Why not? I'm hungry as hell. And I wanna get down there before Lance and Benny get all the lamb chops."

Ann's eyes immediately lit up in anger.

"Those bastards always keep hogging all the meat! What are we waiting for?!"

The two nodded to each other and quickly rushed out the room, with Ann hitting the light switch before the door slammed shut.


	7. The Ronin

The ambience of the forest was beautiful.

Birds chirping and flying about from branch to branch. Small animals went about, darting and dashing in between large roots, rocks and grass. All while a gentle wind blew, rustling leaves and scattering fallen ones.

While nature was putting its magnificence on display for all to see, a lone figure walked along a small path leading through. On his head was an old conical hat, with a small, sturdy string-like rope serving as a strap around his chin to keep it from falling off, the hat blocking the sunlight from hitting his eyes as he walked. He had on an old, faded brown duster with some faint streaks of dried blood, a belt that held three small pouches and two wakizashis behind his waist in a criss-crossed position. The duster's first two buttons were undone, exposing a portion of an old black shirt he wore underneath. Around his neck was a necklace made of some red crystal, something that could be considered either very prized or very worthless in the current state of the world. He had on some old, worn-out gray cargo pants and even more worn-out boots, the portions with large holes covered by canvas wrapping.

The man continued walking. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve as he thought about the status of his current errand: delivering some spices to a person in his village.

 _"Are three bags really enough? Considering how many people eat at the inn, it doesn't seem like enough..."_

Eventually, the path led to a medium-sized village. The village itself was located near a few large ricefields, of which the crop was used to feed it and to trade to other villages for a hefty price of yen. The houses were mostly made of wood and stone, with the more "important" ones being made out of much sturdier scavenged materials from the nearby ruins of a city from many years past. From time to time, the villagers and the villagers of other nearby villages would organize scavenging parties to recover materials from the ruins that could be reused to their benefit, such as metal and so on. The job was not without risk, as they would have to deal with the oni and other monsters that lurked about the countryside. The man was one such frequent participant in the scavenging and because of that, he earned a fair amount of yen through selling what he could find. The money was only enough to buy essentials though.

He passed by the main road, eliciting some looks from the people who were going about their business. Many simply did not pay heed to him, some took a cautious look at him, especially at his weapons. Men with weapons were usually of three types, soldiers of the Shogun, mercenaries or bandits. The man himself was a mercenary, although he specialized in one kind of mercenary work: yokai hunting. His weapons did not look like the appropriate materials one would normally use, as many of the hunters would use spears, naginatas or nodachis, but the two wakizashis he held served him just fine.

The man eventually reached a large house after walking down the tree-lined dirt street. Compared to the other big houses that looked like traditional Japanese houses made out of metal scraps, this house looked more like a well-maintained relic of the past, albeit with some minor and major renovations made recently to keep it usable and inhabitable. It was a large, two-story _minka_ *, with a part of the first floor being repurposed as a small restaurant that the man could see was visibly packed and the rest of the house being used as a traveler's inn. The house had a lit smokestack on the right, made from scavenged materials, which was puffing out smoke presumably produced by the fires that lit the stoves of the eatery's kitchen.

He trudged along the stone-lined pathway to the front entrance of the house, the sounds of people talking and enjoying themselves gradually getting stronger with every step. The man's face slowly shaped into a slightly annoyed frown at the thought of having a lot of company. By his own opinion, he wasn't much of a people person. He just wanted to do whatever his current job was at the moment, that was all.

And maybe even get meal or two while he was at it.

He stepped off the stone-lined path and onto a dirt one that split away from it, which led towards the back part of the house. He caught a glimpse of a waitress entertaining two patrons, explaining that if they would like to sit outside instead, due to the amount of guests. The man did not hear the end of the conversation, though it seemed as if they were going to agree.

He continued around to the side of the house. The rest of the path led to a garden in the back, with a part of it leading to a _shoji_ * that served as the entrance to the kitchen. A few wooden crates, some broken but most intact, were strewn around the door. Sacks of solid waste was piled in a rectangular fenced area. Not far off was a large compost pit.

The man approached the door. The sound of the patrons was getting louder again, now joined with the helpers of the kitchen barking orders and the clanking and hissing of pans, casseroles and food being boiled and fried. Just as he was about to slide it aside, the door slid open, revealing a young girl. She had short, shoulder-length black hair, with a purple ribbon tied on her right. She was dressed in a faded pink short-sleeved kimono with a floral design, a lower knee-length faded red hakama and rubber slippers with socks on. The hakama was stained with multiple splotches of oil and other condiments or ingredients.

She was carrying a crate similar to one of the ones laying around the back. The man noted that her initial surprised expression suddenly turned into an annoyed frown.

"Hiroshi-san. You're...here..." she said as she frowned at the man, whose own expression turned into an embarrassed smile.

"O-Oh. Takara..." Hiroshi said as he pushed his hat off, letting it fall onto his back as it was held in place by the string around his neck, exposing his head of slightly messy graying hair and his very dark complexion.

"I...uhhh...I brought the spices Mirai-san asked for-"

"Mirai-sama!" Takara suddenly called out as she turned around, still holding the crate. "Hiroshi-san is back from Sakimi!"

 _"Well, that was very nice of you, Takara,"_ Hiroshi thought as he sighed.

Soon after, the owner, a much older woman clad in an elaborate yet very worn-out kimono, rushed through the kitchen. "Ah! Hiroshi-kuuun!" she called out, barely missing a server as she weaved in between the cooks and stopped beside Takara, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder as she regained her composure.

"I'm sorry! One of the town chairs is having their birthday today, so I had to personally manage everything..." she said as she caught her breath.

Upon closer inspection, Mirai's kimono was very unusual as the sleeves were wrapped around her forearms and held in place by small ropes tied around them to prevent them from swinging around. It had two slits on the lower portion that revealed her shapely legs to allow her to run and the obi was so tightly wrapped around her waist that it accentuated her ample chest. Her black hair was quite long, tied in a low ponytail that extended to her lower back, though it looked slightly unkempt. It did not detract from her beauty, though.

"Um...shouldn't I be apologizing? I took way too long and now you can't use these spices since you're already cooking..." Hiroshi said as he scratched his head.

"Oh, well that's fine. We didn't really need all of them. Murasaki-san doesn't really like his food spicy and all," Mirai said to him as Takara wordlessly plopped the crate she was carrying on the pile and went back inside, leaving the man and woman alone.

"Really? I guess my mission wasn't a complete failure after all..." Hiroshi said as he untied the burlap pouches filled with spices and handed them to Mirai.

"Hey. There's always tomorrow, you know! Now why don't you come inside?" she said to him as she slowly pulled him inside. "I'm sure you're veeery hungry after that long trip!"

Hiroshi resigned himself as Mirai ushered him to a two-seater table near the busy kitchen. He himself was a frequent customer of both the lodging and the food. He had stayed at Mirai's for as long as he could remember, as many previous towns' usually rejected him despite his contributions to their safety since he would always come around drenched in monster blood and because of his loner attitude and his intimidating appearance (Resting bitch face) which always made people mistake him for a bandit. The current town he was in at the moment, Yufuki, was more accepting of him. Mostly since the place had a steady supply of water from the nearby river that also passed through the ancient city ruins that he could use to take a bath and wash his clothes with and because they needed all the hunters they could get due to being so close to the ancient city, which itself was crawling with oni and yokai.

"So Hiroshi-kuuun! What would you like from the menu today? It's on the house~!" she cheerfully said to him as she presented a scroll that served as the menu.

"What? Really? Oh no no no, I can't not pay you..." Hiroshi said as shook his head and looked down in embarrassment. Mirai considered him her longest customer, and because Hiroshi himself was...well...homeless, he offered to run errands for her to make up for his long stay in addition to the usual weekly fee he paid.

The first time they met was when he encountered her at the market area of the town. He just arrived from one of the other villages when he passed by the market and saw a woman buying crates of meats, vegetables and fish that was just too much for one woman to carry. Of course, he offered to help and it was upon the arrival at the inn that he discovered that she was the owner.

Hiroshi enjoyed staying at the place, but he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed with how Mirai treated him. The two had gotten rather close since he arrived, due in part to him always helping her, but he believed that he didn't deserve such special treatment as he always thought of himself as just doing what anybody would.

"It's fiiine! I'd recommend you get the house special!" she told him, still holding the scroll. Hiroshi looked at her skeptically.

"The 'house special'? I didn't know you served something like that."

"You dummy, it's always been on the menu! It's just that no one's ordered it for a while..." Mirai said as she nudged him.

"Well, okay then. What's the house special?" Hiroshi asked after he sighed. He didn't notice Mirai's lips curve into a particular kind of smile as she suddenly leant closer to his ear and whispered:

"You're looking at it~"

Hiroshi's eyes widened in surprise as he leaned away from her. Mirai suddenly broke out into laughter.

"I'm just joking, Hiroshi-kun!" she said in between giggles. Hiroshi looked away from her as he scratched his head.

"What the hell...?" he muttered as the woman caught her breath.

"But seriously, Hiroshi. I'm not leaving until you order something, you know. A man's gotta eat!" she said as her voice suddenly turned into a more serious tone. Hiroshi shrugged.

"I'm beat right now, and I can't really decide so...errr...surprise me, I guess?" he said as leaned forward, crossed his arms on the table and put his head down on them.

"If that's the case then sure! I'll get you the best food for today! Rest well!" she said as she went back into the kitchen. Hiroshi slowly dozed off, unaware that Takara was watching them from the stairway to the second floor.

 _"Mirai-sama...out of all the men...why did it have to be this guy?"_

* * *

Minka - name for a traditional house in Japan

Shoji - the Japanese sliding doors

 **Author's Note:**

For those of you wondering where the Servants are, they're already present in the story. ;)


End file.
